Kevyn Adams Joins Sabres Live From Las Vegas | Buffalo Sabres

Kevyn Adams Joins Sabres Live From Las Vegas | Buffalo Sabres

as promised general manager Kevin Adams joining us here on site in Vegas the draft begins tomorrow night but obviously the hockey world has been a buzz with many topics uh post Stanley Cup uh captured by the Panthers and buyout Windows opening and free agency that follows immediately after the draft so uh good morning good afternoon depending on where our audience is located Kev and we’re in Vegas I don’t know what it is and uh you know so first good day day first order of business for you today was what uh well it’s just it it honestly at this time of year doesn’t um feel like you start a day you just continue days you know um calls lay last night you’re you’re reworking things um you’re bouncing from amateure to trade discussions um to Pro meetings and trying to have different conversations with other managers and agents so um got together with a smaller group of our management staff this morning just to recap um some current convers ations um here in a few minutes we’ll we’ll get back to the amateur meetings um continue to work our list when we get to when we get to the draft week we’re let’s say 95% of the way with our list but I find these last few days for the draft critically important um to have the debates and you may just be talking about one spot you know a player moves one which which my reminder the amateur staff is you can’t ever take these decisions lightly CU just it seems more often than that over the years that that ends up being what what happens where that player that you debated is the guy I mean in Austin that happened a few years ago we made one tweak the morning um of the draft and moved him up one and ended up where we got him so these are important conversations and I’ve also made the staff critic um aware that we’re open to any scenario so don’t assume any any player um is really off um the board for us okay so I’ll come back to the pick at 11 a little bit but yesterday we’re getting ready to do our show from here in Vegas and and the big news was um reports apparently that you know a Jeff Skinner buyout was all but done and obviously the buyout window opens today you know none of that is happening so is this something that you discussed last night today tomorrow moving days not just Jeff Skinner but other situations and and where are we at in that potential of using a bot before June 30th yeah I mean you’re right like the it’s it’s tied into when the Stanley Cup ends uh um in terms of when the buyout window opens um I you know I know there’s a lot of noise out there right now but you know no final decisions have been made we’re continuing to have conversations internally externally I mean obviously with Jeff’s case in particular he has a no move Clause so ultimately any sort of uh conversation you may or may not have regarding a trade is going to be um fully um you know go back to him and in in a discussion so that just unique when a player has a no move Clause but in terms of the specific buyout or like I said in the week or so ago I think we’re everything’s on the table we’re open everything everything we’re looking to do is to help this team get better um these are tough decisions you make but um you know no final decision’s been made and we still have time how do you gauge just kind of what is out there as far as player availab availability um you know because with each passing day different names pop up for various reasons like and it’s not that we hadn’t heard uh let’s use Jacob trouba as an example he had a tough end of the playoffs with the New York Rangers we know their cap situation but his name is a little bit more prominent in the news cycle today um I must going with the assumption that you guys are already well aware of these names being in play but does it ever like make you collectively perk up as a group when certain names get in the news cycle a little more prominently yeah not really I mean um for me we have our our own meetings that started weeks weeks and weeks ago on our Pro side where we go through every single team in the National Hockey League we go through their entire depth chart from their NHL straight down through their their minor league system into their prospects and then from there you know we have already had our internal meetings on what are we looking to do what are we trying to accomplish with our roster and as you go through the other teams you’re starting to highlight names to say Okay I want to make sure I check in with this General Manager on this player is it even a possibility they’d be available and if they were available what is it going to take to acquire them and then you just start going through that process week after week after week so the combine is a really important time that a lot of these conversations really pick up and you may pause it you may go back to your staff he they go back to their staff and then you get back together at the draft and you’re just having this dialogue so I guess to answer the question de like it doesn’t really change anything or hearing names or there’s rumors or reports we know those names are out there um you know I think sometimes it’s done rically maybe to you know get things you know going um but I don’t pay too much attention to it uh we were out to dinner last night with our you know crew our Sabers crew and uh we saw a bunch of prospects out there and it’s exciting they have their families around the agents are there um but again like I was hearing hey you know ran into Nathan McKinnon ran into displayer ran so you guys are sitting at 11: it’s nice to see hey we’ get a really good Prospect but prospects are not NHL players right now to help a team right now so what is that conversation for you with your staff when you’re comparing a prospect and the potential move uh that you could make if it was presented a right offer 411 to a player that would come in and help you right now yeah I think that’s it’s a great way to ask the question because you’re always weighing you know what what helps you today verse what potentially could be down the road in terms of the long-term vision and plan I mean the reality of the National Hockey League Draft is for every Zack Benson you know um there’s 99 other players out of 100 that take two three four five years to play and help your team so you’re always balancing that you guys know how I feel you really need to have strong drafts you need to have a pipeline to be able to replace the players as you turn your roster over I think we’ve done a really good job of that over the last few years we’re in a position now where we can be aggressive we have draft picks um that are you know this year and into next year and I’ve told every team in the league that we are wi open on 11 we’ll we’ll we’ll move the pick if we think it’s a player that could help us now we’ll move back acquire another asset maybe try to use those assets to go get another player um that’s all the simultaneous conversations you’re having going going on so wide open on it um but in saying that it’s a it’s an exciting time because pick 11 or if we move back a few or you move back a lot you’re going to get a good player this is a good draft and we’re excited about it anything to update uh contractually with pending restricted free agents um well all the agents think the salary caps going up $100 million instead of just a few um does that help um a pretty clear idea yeah yeah h no I mean this is the yeah everybody’s here um myself and Mark jacobowski had multiple meetings yesterday um with with some of our our guys agents and um we’re in a good spot we’re going to continue to work at it um but um the nice part is when you get all into the same place you’ve had a lot of conversations on the phone but it’s nice to sit down face to face and um um just have a conversation and explain where you’re coming from they explain where they’re coming from but I think um all in all I like where we’re at with with all of our guys so qualifying offers are due now in the next like three days for yok areu Krabs Lucan in and then obviously talking about all of this um any anticipation around the league that there could be some you know guys that don’t get quo and all of a sudden you’re like hey we didn’t know this player was going to be available or we have that conversation with other teams with you yeah there’s always surprises every year try to do that work before where we do we do also go as as part of our Pro meetings we go through every team and say who the restricted free agents uh potentially could be and is any one of these restricted free agents potentially at risk to not get qualified and a lot of times it has nothing to do with the talent or the player they are sometimes it’s a maybe their arbitration case is going to be pretty high and it just doesn’t work from a salary cap perspective so there’s always surprises but I think um our guys do a pretty good job of being you know on top of that um so we’ll see how that shakes out but in terms of us um no we’ll get those qualifiers out here soon and um it’s I mean this is uh this is the time of year where everything’s happening fast and that’s why Mark Jackowski doesn’t sleep very much they used to be coming through by facts oh I know I’m glad those days were over you you had to get the facts in before the 5:00 now we just got to get Wi-Fi to be able to send things in mail and uh hopefully that there’s been a couple drafts over the last years where there was some Wi-Fi issues with phones and you’re trying all of a sudden phones the sywor shut down Rogers or something like shut down yeah especially for the Canadian teams I think so um that’s definitely not a good thing to happen at the draft what’s your take away from the Stanley Cup Final and how the Panthers were built and how they emerged as Champions yeah I mean they earned it I I I mean I’m you guys probably would agree with this that you don’t win the Stanley Cup the hardest trophy in sports without being deep resilient um just just a team that can play any style uh they’ve been a tremendous team for a few years now but I thought this year they just they just took a step in terms of you could see their their identity and their ability to play different ways pal Mar is a great coach really happy for Paul I played I played for him for a few years he’s a really really good coach and he’s been at this a long time you know happy for the the guys that I know personally there but um it also man watching just gets you um hungry that I want this for us it’s our time to take a step um UFA uh Dave free agent frenzy is Monday again quick turn around right like it’s here you got your own internal players to think about um how active have you and the group been talking to um and I don’t want to say there’s you know there’s rules in place and you’re not allowed to talk specifically until July 1 but talking about hey there’s all these players available and we are going to be aggressive in the free agent pool or not because the draft and trades could still happen yeah well I mean that you’re doing you’re simultaneously doing this in terms of um you’re not not allowed to talk to the players or the agents but you know the list of potential ufas that are out there some may go off the board before now and uh Monday uh just sign resigning with their own team but we’ve been having a lot of those conversations internally and what you do Marty is you weigh what you could potentially do in free agency because it’s an unknown you know just because we want the player doesn’t mean the player wants to come here they could have five out of their offers maybe the money doesn’t work maybe the term doesn’t work maybe they don’t want to live in Buffalo you know there’s just a lot of variables to that but you know those players that are going to potentially be out there you weigh it verse what cost Acquisitions And Trades you could make um you know I thought we were really close the last week on on a few trades that uh I would have probably said this is going to happen and then they fell apart you know so you just weigh all of that against each other um and you and you do your best you know where I like in terms of our roster and our team is that especially through free agency if we end up that Road you’re you’re rounding out the group you know the core is in place I like our goal tending I like our Decor you like where we’re at um for the most part up front you want to you know fill some holes but you’re you know for me we’re not looking to go um okay we’re going to this you know whatever call it first line Center you know you have Tage Thompson you have Dylan cousins you know what I mean so that just changes how we’re looking at it but all of it comes together um and and you just keep going down the list and some things that you have as plan a may not work so you quickly go to plan B and that’s just how I think that’s why you have to do all the work beforehand thank you for the time today we appreciate it no problem all right enjoy Vegas guys lots of coffee enjoy the lots of coffee and St careful going outside yeah sunscreen on that head Duffer I know always always always always [Music]

Sabres GM Kevyn Adams joined Brian Duff and Martin Biron on Sabres Live from Wynn Las Vegas. He discussed the team’s outlook ahead for the 2024 NHL Draft, Jeff Skinner’s future, what the Sabres could potentially look to do in trades and free agency this offseason and updates on pending free agents.

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